Integrated Point-of-Care Immune Cell Analyzer with Rapid Blood Sample Reaction and Wide Field-of-View Detection

The development of affordable, reliable, and rapid diagnostic devices is crucial for monitoring immunological responses using a drop of blood. However, conventional automated diagnostic devices typically involve expensive and impractical robotic fluid-handling approaches. Herein, we developed an integrated cell analyzer comprising a cylindrical sample cartridge connected to a direct current motor and a compact fluorescence imaging module. Sample mixing and loading are performed automatically by a programmable sequence of single motor rotation controlled by an Android application. Two distinct stained immune cell samples can be identified by using two types of fluorescence imaging modes. The effectiveness of mixing performance in antigen-antibody (Ag-Ab) reactions was assessed through a compound objective lens that collects weak fluorescence emitted by the cell membrane. Active mixing with bidirectional rotation of the cartridge in a confined space shortened the Ag-Ab reaction time by a factor of 3.3 and achieved cell counting with higher accuracy while reducing reagent consumption by 4 times compared to the conventional incubation method. High-intensity fluorescence images of cells labeled with a nucleic acid stain were acquired through a single-lens-based fluorescence imaging module with a large field of view (FOV) in an unconventional detection chamber with a curved substrate. Compared with a flat chamber, the curved detection chamber reduces the effects of field curvature and provides aberration-free wide-FOV images, even with a simple lens. Our integrated cell analyzer thus offers a practical and cost-effective solution for monitoring patient immune responses in point-of-care settings.